Electronic multi-format video poker games

ABSTRACT

A player makes a wager and selects a first poker hand format and a second different poker hand format. An initial poker hand is dealt and displayed to the player. The player holds desired cards and discards unwanted cards as is conventional in video poker. Replacement cards for the unwanted cards are dealt and displayed to the player. The final poker hand is analyzed for poker hand ranking. The poker hand ranking of the final poker hand is compared to the pay table for each poker hand format to determine whether the final poker ranking is a winning combination for that poker hand format. Winning hand combinations are paid in accordance with the pay table for each poker format and based on the amount wagered by the player.

[0001] This invention relates primarily to electronic video poker games,and more particularly to electronic video draw poker games that arebased on poker hand rankings and allow the player to play a single handin two different poker formats at the same time. The player selects twopoker formats from a menu of poker formats at the beginning of a roundof the game. The player makes a wager for each poker format that theplayer wishes to play. The computer game controls then deal out a pokerhand, the player stands or discards and receives replacement cards as isconventional in video draw poker. The resulting final hand is thenanalyzed to determine its poker hand ranking. The poker hand ranking ofthe final hand is then compared to a pay table for each poker format andwinning and losing events are determined. The player receives an awardfor each winning event and the player loses his wager for each losingevent.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Five card draw poker in an electronic video gaming machine formathas been a staple in gaming casinos for many years and this well knowngame is a single player game based on draw poker. The player attempts toachieve a winning poker hand ranking by discarding from an initial fivecard hand and drawing new cards in order to try and improve his pokerhand. A pay table is provided to show the player what he can win basedon the poker hand ranking achieved after the draw step and the amountwagered by the player.

[0003] There have been single hand versions of video draw poker ingaming machines for a long time. The first video draw poker machinesoffered the player a single poker format—usually what is called plain“Draw Poker.” In this poker format, the winning hand combinationsincluded a Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House,Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pair and a Pair of Jacks or Better(a Pair of Jacks, Pair of Queens, Pair of Kings or Pair of Aces). Anyother final poker hand combination was a losing event. A player wouldwager one to five coins (or credits if the gaming machine has a creditmeter which is now conventional) and the player would win coins orcredits based on the amount wagered and the final winning poker handcombination achieved by the player. The possible awards to be won by theplayer are shown in a pay table associated with the poker format beingplayed by the player.

[0004] A typical pay table for plain Draw Poker is shown in Table 1:TABLE 1 DRAW POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYALFLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250FOUR-OF-A-KIND 25 50 75 100 125 FULL HOUSE 9 18 27 36 45 FLUSH 6 12 1824 30 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 2 4 6 810 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5

[0005] This pay table awards the player based on the final poker handranking achieved by the player and the number of coins or creditswagered by the player. Typical electronic video poker gaming machinesprovide for a maximum wager of five coins or credits. If the final handdoes not achieve a winning hand combination as shown in the pay table,then the player has a losing hand and his wager is lost.

[0006] Other poker formats have been developed for video poker. TheDeuces Wild poker format provides that each deuce in the deck of playingcards is a wild card. The Deuces Wild poker format uses a different paytable of winning hand combinations because other card combinations canbe treated as winning hand combinations based on the mathematicalprobability of various card combinations occurring. For example, whenwild cards are used, it is possible to obtain Five-of-a-Kind, Four WildCards (Four Deuces when the Deuce is the wild card) and a Wild RoyalFlush (a Royal Flush that includes one or more wild cards).

[0007] A typical pay table for Deuces Wild poker format is shown inTable 2. TABLE 2 DEUCES WILD DRAW POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 FOUR DEUCES 200 400 600 8001000 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 25 50 75 100 125 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 15 30 45 60 75STRAIGHT FLUSH 13 26 39 52 65 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 4 3 12 16 20 FULL HOUSE 3 69 12 15 FLUSH 3 6 9 12 15 STRIAGHT 2 4 6 8 10 THREE-OF-A-KIND 1 2 3 4 5

[0008] Other poker formats have been developed for video poker. BonusPoker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Triple BonusPoker, Super Double Bonus Poker, Sevens Wild and One-eyed Jacks Wild areamong the poker formats that use standard draw poker hand rankings aswinning hands, with variations being made in the amounts paid out forthe different winning hand combinations.

[0009] Poker hand formats have been developed that use Jokers as wildcards—such as Joker Poker, Deuces Joker Poker and Double Joker Poker. InJoker Poker, a single Joker is added to a standard fifty-two card deckof playing cards resulting in a fifty-three card deck; in Double JokerPoker, two Jokers are added resulting in a fifty-four card deck. InDeuces Joker Poker a single Joker is added to the deck and both thisJoker and the Deuces are wild cards. In video poker with one or moreJokers added as wild cards, winning hand combinations includeFive-of-a-Kind and Wild Royal Flushes.

[0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide a new andexciting video poker game in which the player has the opportunity toachieve two winning occurrences while playing a single video poker hand.

[0011] It is a feature of the present invention that a single videopoker hand is played and is then analyzed with respect to two pokerformats at the same time. The player can achieve a winning hand relativeto both poker formats, the player can achieve a winning hand relative toone of the poker formats and a losing hand relative to the other pokerformat and the player can achieve two losing hands.

[0012] It is an advantage of the present invention that the player willbe able to participate in two poker game formats while playing a singlehand. The player will have two opportunities to win and could win oneither poker game format or on both poker game formats. It is a furtheradvantage that the operator of the gaming machine can offer pay tableswith a theoretical return in excess of 100% for each poker format whilethe overall theoretical game return will be below 100%. This occursbecause the optimal game strategy for one poker format results in aplayer disadvantage against the other poker format.

[0013] Other objects, features and advantages of the present inventionwill become apparent from a consideration of the following detaileddescription.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The method of present invention involves the player making awager that is allocated between two poker hand formats. The player canplay the same number of credits on each poker hand format or a differentnumber of credits on each poker hand format.

[0015] Once the player has made his wager, the player selects a firstpoker hand format and a second poker hand format. Each poker hand formatmust be different. The player can select each poker hand format from agroup of poker hand formats provided in a menu on the video poker gamingmachine. Each poker hand format has a pay table associated therewithshowing the winning hand combinations for that poker hand format and thepayouts available based on the number of credits wagered by the player.

[0016] Then the initial poker hand is dealt and displayed to the player.The player holds desired cards and discards unwanted cards as isconventional in video poker. Replacement cards for the unwanted cardsare dealt and displayed to the player. The final poker hand is analyzedfor poker hand ranking.

[0017] The poker hand ranking of the final poker hand is compared to thepay table for each poker hand format to determine whether the finalpoker ranking is a winning combination for that poker hand format.Winning hand combinations are paid in accordance with the pay table foreach poker format and based on the amount wagered by the player.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 shows the screen display for the method of play of thepresent invention prior to the initial deal of the cards.

[0019]FIG. 2 shows a second screen display used to select the pokerformats to be used in the method of play of the present invention.

[0020]FIG. 3 shows the screen display for the method of play of thepresent invention after an initial deal of cards that could occur duringthe play of the game.

[0021]FIG. 4 shows the screen display for the method of play of thepresent invention and shows a result that could occur during the play ofthe game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022] The present invention includes an electronic video poker game.Each electronic video poker game is designed to be played by having thepoker hand displayed on a video screen to a player. By manipulating thebuttons on the gaming device or by using conventional touch screentechnology, the player selects how much he wishes to wager, which pokerhand formats the player wishes to use for that play of the game andwhich cards the player wishes to hold and which cards the player wishesto discard.

[0023]FIG. 1 shows a gaming machine upon which the method of the presentinvention can be carried out. The gaming machine 10 includes a videoscreen display 20 on which is shown the playing cards that will be usedduring the play of the method of the present invention. The video screendisplay 20 also includes other information and data presented to theplayer to allow the player to understand the play of the game and toeffect the operation of the method.

[0024] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the videoscreen display shows a credit meter 22 and a display of the total numberof credits 24 wagered for a particular round of play of the game. Thevideo screen display also has touch screen locations to allow the playerto DEAL 47 the initial display of cards which comprise the initial handdealt to the player. Other touch screen locations allow the player tomake his initial wager, which can be made one credit at a time using theBET ONE location 26 or which can be made by wagering the maximum numberof credits allowed by the gaming machine using the BET MAX location 28.The screen display 20 also displays the playing cards 60 dealt to theplayer and the player can effect his hold of the cards by pressing eachcard location on the screen display. When the player has selected whichcards he wishes to hold, the player can cause the replacement cards tobe dealt by pressing the DRAW 47 location on the screen display 20. TheDEAL/DRAW location 47 toggles between a DEAL symbol and a DRAW symboldepending on whether the deal step is active or the draw step is active,as is conventional.

[0025] Finally, yet another touch screen location allows the player todetermine the poker formats the player wishes to play. POKER FORMATlocation 31 is used by the player to select the first poker hand formatthat the player wishes to play. POKER FORMAT location 33 is used by theplayer to select the second poker hand format that the player wishes toplay.

[0026] The gaming machine 10 also has a button panel 40 which includestypical buttons that the player may press to activate various actionsduring the play of the method of the present invention. A CASH OUTbutton 41 is provided to allow the player to collect any credits whichthe player has accrued on the credit meter 22. A BET MAX button 42 and aBET ONE button 44 are provided to allow the player to wager either themaximum amount of credits or to wager one credit at a time on the playof the game as desired by the player. A DEAL/DRAW button 46 is providedto allow the player to effect the initial deal step of the method ofplay as desired should the player prefer to use the button panel insteadof the DEAL/DRAW screen location 47 on the video screen display 20.

[0027] The gaming machine 10 also includes a coin head 50 to allow theplayer to insert coins or gaming tokens as wagers to allow play of thegaming machine 10. A bill acceptor slot 52 is also provided on thegaming machine 10. In order to accrue credits that may be used to playthe gaming machine 10, the player inserts paper currency or othersuitable script or gaming coupons into the bill acceptor slot 52 behindwhich, on the interior of the gaming machine, is mounted a bill acceptorwhich takes in and validates the currency. The monetary value of theinserted currency is then applied to the credit meter 22, the credits onwhich the player may use to play the gaming machine. As is conventionalin video poker gaming machines, the player may effect a wager byinserting coins or gaming tokens or the player may effect a wager byusing credits accrued on the credit meter 22.

[0028] Any other conventional and suitable equipment can be included inthe gaming machine.

[0029] The preferred embodiment of the present invention uses a standardfifty-two card deck, and may add one or more Jokers as wild cards when aJoker wild card format is selected by the player. A player makes aninitial wager to activate the game and the player selects the two pokerhand formats that the player wishes to play during that round of thegame. The player also determines the amount of the wager that is to beallocated to each poker hand format that the player will play.

[0030] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the amountwagered by the player will be equally divided between each poker handformat. Alternatively, the computer controls of the gaming machine canbe configured to allow the player to wager different amounts on eachpoker hand format. As shown in FIG. 1, the player has elected to wagerfive credits on each poker hand format that the player will play.

[0031] In order to select the first poker format to be used during theround of play, the player presses the POKER FORMAT 1 screen location anda second screen display 100, see FIG. 2, is shown to the player. Thissecond screen display 100 can display in any suitable manner the variouspoker formats available to the player to select from. For example, asshown in FIG. 2, each of the available poker formats can be shown in atouch screen location on the screen display 100—Draw Poker 102, BonusPoker 104, Double Bonus Poker 106, Double Double Bonus Poker 108, DeucesWild Poker 110 and Joker Poker 112. The player simply touches the screenlocation associated with the poker format the player wishes to select.The method of the present invention requires that the poker formats bedifferent—the player may not select the same poker format for both playsin the same round of play of the game.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 3, the player has chosen Draw Poker as the firstpoker format and Deuces Wild Poker as the second format.

[0033] After the wager has been made and after the player has selectedhis desired poker hand formats for that round of play of the game, aninitial hand of five cards is randomly dealt (after the playing cardshave been randomly shuffled electronically as is conventional) anddisplayed to the player on the screen display. A representative initialdeal is shown in FIG. 3 and the player has been dealt the Two of Spades61, the Queen of Clubs 62, the Four of Hearts 63, the Two of Clubs 64and the Seven of Diamonds 65.

[0034] As is conventional in video poker gaming machines, the playerselects which cards he player wishes to hold be pressing the “Hold”button under each card or by touching the card on the touch screendisplay. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the player would most likelyhold the Two of Spades 61 and the Two of Clubs 64 since this is a Pairin Draw Poker and two wild cards in Deuces Wild Poker.

[0035] The player then presses the “Draw” button to discard the unwantednon-held cards and replacement cards from the original deck of playingcards are dealt and displayed to the player. The resulting five cardhand is the player's final hand. In the example as shown in FIG. 4, theplayer was dealt as replacement cards the Two of Diamonds 66, the Sevenof Hearts 67 and the Seven of Spades 68.

[0036] The final hand is analyzed by the computer controls to determinethe poker hand ranking. The poker hand ranking of the final hand iscompared to the pay table for each poker hand format to determinewhether a winning hand combination has been achieved.

[0037] With reference to the example shown in FIG. 4, the player has aFull House relative to the Draw Poker format. Using any suitable paytable for the Draw Poker format, such as the one shown in Table 1, theplayer would be awarded nine credits for each credit wagered for a FullHouse achieved in Draw Poker.

[0038] The player also has five Sevens relative to the Deuces Wild Pokerformat. Using any suitable pay table for the Deuces Wild Poker format,such as the one shown in Table 2, the player would be awarded fifteencredits for each credit wagered for a Five-of-a-Kind achieved in DeucesWild Poker.

[0039] Any suitable pay table may be devised for each of the pokerformats that can be used in the method of the present invention. Theselection of the appropriate pay table is based on the mathematicalprobability of video poker and the desired game return to be offered tothe player.

[0040] As discussed above, any of the myriad of poker formats that havebeen devised may be used and the method of the present invention can beeasily adapted to any new poker formats that may be devised in thefuture.

[0041] Following are examples of pay tables that can be used with somewell-known poker formats, but these examples should be considered asillustrative and the method of the present invention is not intended tobe limited to any particular pay table or groups of pay tables.

[0042] A typical pay table for Bonus Poker is shown in Table 3: TABLE 3BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR ACES 80 160 240320 400 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 40 80 120 160 200 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 25 5075 100 125 FULL HOUSE 8 16 24 32 40 FLUSH 5 10 15 20 25 STRAIGHT 4 8 1216 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 2 4 6 8 10 JACKS OR BETTER 12 3 4 5

[0043] A typical pay table for Double Bonus Poker is shown in Table 4:TABLE 4 DOUBLE BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOURACES 160 320 480 640 800 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 5'STHRU KINGS 50 100 150 200 250 FULL HOUSE 7 14 21 28 35 FLUSH 5 10 15 2025 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5

[0044] A typical pay table for Double Double Bonus Poker is shown inTable 5: TABLE 5 DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKERHAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100150 200 250 FOUR ACES 400 800 1200 1600 2000 WITH 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR ACES160 320 480 640 800 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 160 320 480 640 800 WITH ACE, 2,3 OR 4 FOUR 2'S, 3's, 4'S 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 50 100150 200 250 FULL HOUSE 6 12 18 24 30 FLUSH 5 10 15 20 25 STRAIGHT 4 8 1216 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 JACKS OR BETTER 1 23 4 5

[0045] A typical pay table for Joker Poker is shown in Table 6: TABLE 6JOKER POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 100200 300 400 500 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 15 3045 60 75 FULL HOUSE 10 20 30 40 50 FLUSH 6 12 18 24 30 STRAIGHT 4 8 1216 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 PAIR OF ACES 1 2 34 5

[0046] A typical pay table for Joker Poker is shown in Table 6: TABLE 7DEUCES JOKER WILD POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 FIVEWILD CARDS 1600 3200 4800 6400 10000 ROYAL FLUSH 800 1600 2400 3200 4000FOUR DEUCES 25 50 75 100 125 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 12 24 36 480 60FIVE-OF-A-KIND 9 18 27 36 45 STRAIGHT FLUSH 6 12 18 24 30 FOUR-OF-A-KIND3 6 9 12 15 FULL HOUSE 3 6 9 12 15 FLUSH 3 6 9 12 15 STRAIGHT 2 4 6 8 10THREE-OF-A-KIND 1 2 3 4 5

[0047] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, theplayer cannot select which two poker formats the player may play duringany round of the game. Instead the gaming machine is programmed to offerthe player two preselected poker formats and those two preselected pokerformats are the two that the player will use during each round of playof the game.

[0048] For example, the two preselected poker formats could be DoubleDouble Bonus Poker and Deuces Wild Poker. The pay table for each ofthese preselected poker formats can be set to have a game return inexcess of 100%. However, the overall game return will be less than 100%because the optimal hold and draw strategy for one poker format wouldnot be the optimal hold and draw strategy for the other format.

[0049] For example, in this preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the Double Double Bonus Poker format pay table is shown inTable 8 and has a theoretical game return of 103.1179%: TABLE 8 DOUBLEDOUBLE BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYALFLUSH 800 1600 2400 3200 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOURACES 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 WITH 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR ACES 160 320 480 640800 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 160 320 480 640 800 WITH ACE, 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR 2'S,3'S, 4'S 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 50 100 150 200 250 FULLHOUSE 11 22 33 44 55 FLUSH 7 14 21 28 35 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5

[0050] The Deuces Wild Poker format pay table is shown in Table 9 andhas a theoretical game return of 103.8111%: TABLE 9 DEUCES WILD DRAWPOKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 800 16002400 3200 4000 FOUR DEUCES 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 3060 90 120 150 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 18 36 54 72 90 STRAIGHT FLUSH 10 20 30 4050 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 4 8 12 16 20 FULL HOUSE 3 6 9 12 15 FLUSH 2 4 6 8 10STRIAGHT 2 4 6 8 10 THREE-OF-A-KIND 1 2 3 4 5

[0051] The overall game return when Double Double Bonus Poker and DeucesWild Poker are the two preselected poker formats would be 98.2134%because the optimal play for each initially dealt hand may not be thesame for each poker format. For example, if a player is initially dealtthree Deuces, a King of Spades and an Ace of Spades, the player on thedeal would have a Wild Royal Flush in the Deuces Wild Poker format butonly a Three-of-a-Kind in the Double Double Bonus Poker format. If theplayer holds all five initially dealt cards, the player would win thepayout for a Wild Royal in the Deuces Wild Poker format and the payoutfor Three-of-a-Kind in the Double Double Bonus Poker format. But theplayer would give up the opportunity to achieve four Deuces (with orwithout the kicker) in the Double Double Bonus Poker format which has avery high payout. Likewise, if the player only holds the three Deucesand tries to achieve a higher payout in the Double Double Bonus Pokerformat, the player would be giving up a guaranteed payout for the WildRoyal Flush in the Deuces Wild Poker format.

[0052] Other preselected poker format combinations can be used,particularly those that combine a wild card poker format with anotherwild card poker format. For example, the Joker Poker format can becombined with the Deuces Joker Poker format.

[0053] Another variation of the present invention can use three or morepoker formats played from a single player poker hand. The player wouldmake a wager that would be allocated among the three or more pokerformats and the final five card hand is then analyzed relative to eachof the three or more poker formats to determine winning and losinghands.

[0054] While the invention has been illustrated with respect to severalspecific embodiments thereof, these embodiments should be considered asillustrative rather than limiting. Various modifications and additionsmay be made and will be apparent to those skilled in the art.Accordingly, the invention should not be limited by the foregoingdescription, but rather should be defined only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of playing a poker game in which aplayer plays a single hand relative to two different poker formatscomprising: a) a player selecting a first poker format and a secondpoker format which is different from the first poker format; b)displaying a five card hand face up to the player; c) the playerselecting none, one or more of the face up cards as cards to be held; d)discarding the face up cards that were not selected to be held andreplacing each of those cards with a face up card to create a final fivecard hand; e) determining the poker hand ranking of the final five cardhand; f) determining whether the poker hand ranking of the final fivecard hand is a winning combination relative to the first poker handformat; and g) determining whether the poker hand ranking of the finalfive card hand is a winning combination relative to the second pokerhand format.
 2. The method of claim 1 including the steps of: a) aplayer making a wager which is allocated between the first poker formatand the second poker format; b) paying the player a preestablishedamount based on the amount of the wager allocated to the first pokerformat if the final five card hand is a winning combination relative tothe first poker format; and c) paying the player a preestablished amountbased on the amount of the wager allocated to the second poker format ifthe final five card hand is a winning combination relative to the secondpoker format.
 3. The method of claim 1 in which each poker format isselected from the group consisting of Draw Poker, Bonus Poker, DoubleBonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild Poker and Joker WildPoker.
 4. A method of playing a poker game in which a player plays asingle hand relative to a first preselected poker format and a secondpreselected poker format which is different from the first poker formatcomprising: a) displaying a five card hand face up to the player; b) theplayer selecting none, one or more of the face up cards as cards to beheld; c) discarding the face up cards that were not selected to be heldand replacing each of those cards with a face up card to create a finalfive card hand; d) determining the poker hand ranking of the final fivecard hand; e) determining whether the poker hand ranking of the finalfive card hand is a winning combination relative to the first poker handformat; and f) determining whether the poker hand ranking of the finalfive card hand is a winning combination relative to the second pokerhand format.
 5. The method of claim 4 including the steps of: a) aplayer making a wager which is allocated between the first poker formatand the second poker format; b) paying the player a preestablishedamount based on the amount of the wager allocated to the first pokerformat if the final five card hand is a winning combination relative tothe first poker format; and c) paying the player a preestablished amountbased on the amount of the wager allocated to the second poker format ifthe final five card hand is a winning combination relative to the secondpoker format.
 6. The method of claim 4 in which each poker format isselected from the group consisting of Draw Poker, Bonus Poker, DoubleBonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild Poker and Joker WildPoker.
 7. The method of Clam 4 in which the first poker format is DoubleDouble Bonus Poker with an associated pay table and the second pokerformat is Deuces Wild Poker with an associated pay table.
 8. The methodof claim 7 in which the pay table associated with Double Double BonusPoker is: DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 23 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 800 1600 2400 3200 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200250 FOUR ACES 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 WITH 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR ACES 160 320480 640 800 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 160 320 480 640 800 WITH ACE, 2, 3 OR 4FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 50 100 150 200250 FULL HOUSE 11 22 33 44 55 FLUSH 7 14 21 28 35 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5

and the pay table associated with Deuces Wild Poker is: DEUCES WILD DRAWPOKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 800 16002400 3200 4000 FOUR DEUCES 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 3060 90 120 150 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 18 36 54 72 90 STRAIGHT FLUSH 10 20 30 4050 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 4 8 12 16 20 FULL HOUSE 3 6 9 12 15 FLUSH 2 4 6 8 10STRAIGHT 2 4 6 8 10 THREE-OF-A-KIND 1 2 3 4 5